


empty spaces

by helsinkibaby



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Age Difference, Angst, Community: comment_fic, F/M, Het, Rare Pair, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-19
Updated: 2016-09-19
Packaged: 2018-08-16 03:01:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8084113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: Caitlin is leaving town, but not without one last goodbye.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Theme: travel  
> Prompt: The Flash, Joe/Caitlin, Caitlin is leaving to take a new job out of town.

She's said her goodbyes, packed up her apartment, sending some furniture on ahead of her, putting the rest in storage until she can decide what to do with it. Most of her clothes are likewise boxed up and in transit, only the suitcase worth of items she's been wearing for the last couple of weeks lies in the trunk of her car and she's so sick of wearing the same few outfits she's actually half tempted to leave them behind her altogether. She doesn't though - Caitlin always was practical like that. 

She puts the last of the cups and plates into the last box, unplugs the kettle and empties out any remaining drops of water, leaves it at the top of the box - she figures she'll need at least a cup of instant coffee when she gets where she's going. Closing up the box, she's ready to walk out on her old life for good when she hears a gentle rap on the front door. 

There's a cold ripple down her back because she'd asked them - told them, hell, she'd _ordered_ them not to make it harder than it already was. She'd said her goodbyes at STAR Labs and that had been hard enough. She really doesn't want to do it twice or, worse, see the look in someone's eyes when she has to refuse when they ask her to stay. 

Still, there's no point in not opening the door. She knows her friends, they're stubborn. They'll stay there all day if they have to and then she'll never leave. 

Maybe that's their plan. 

When she opens the door though, it's not Cisco and Barry with hugs and entreaties, or even Iris with an offer to help her finish packing. 

It's Joe. 

It's Joe and suddenly that makes everything so much harder. 

"Hey," he says, shifting on his feet, looking almost nervous. "I wasn't sure if I'd catch you..."

Caitlin's fingers curl around the smooth wood of the front door and she leans against it heavily. "I was just finishing up." She straightens, forces a smile to her face. "Do you want to come in?" 

He nods and when he does his eyes widen at the deserted space. "Was it always so big?"

She's thought the same thing and she laughs in spite of herself. "Apparently. Also, for what it's worth, avoid air mattresses." Last night's sleep had not been comfortable; she would have been better off on the floor. She rolls her shoulders to get the worst of the knots out, realises her mistake when Joe's hands, strong and warm and sure, land between her shoulder blades and move up and around and down, his gentle pressure doing what her own motions had failed to do. 

Caitlin's head drops and she closes her eyes and she tries to forget everything that's gone before and everything that's going to come. For once, her brain obeys her commands, shuts off rational and irrational thought and all that matters is the feel of his hands on her body, the scent of his cologne surrounding them both, the sound of their breathing perfectly in synch with each other. 

All that matters is them. 

"It's a good job." 

Her voice breaks the silence, words she's already said, to him, to everyone in her life. 

He makes a noise that indicates assent. "You'd be crazy to pass on it," he says. "I get that." His fingers hit a particularly sensitive area and she shivers. It also brings back a thousand memories for her and when his hands pause, she thinks it did the same for him. "Can I ask you something?" 

She nods, that cold ripple making a return, because she already knows what he's going to say. 

"You leaving... is it because of this? Us?" 

He's never asked her that before and she can hear the hesitation in his voice, doesn't know if because he's afraid that she'll say yes, or that she won't. 

"No." 

She's glad she's not looking at him because she knows she's a horrible liar, knows everything she thinks is written all over her face. She thinks he might try to turn her, is prepared to resist, but his hands just still on her shoulders, squeeze once and she can't help herself, she reaches up and covers his fingers with hers. 

"I've lost so much in Central City," she tells him. Two men she loved in Ronnie and Jay, albeit lost to her for totally different reasons. Another man, him, that she could have loved, if she'd let herself, if other factors, other people, hadn't come into play. "I just want a new start." 

"Yeah." His quiet sigh ruffles her hair and she leans back against him, finds comfort in the weight and warmth of his body just one last time. "I get that too." He dips his head, presses a kiss to her temple and she bites her lip against a sob. "I'm just going to miss you."

She turns and looks up at him then and she'll tell herself later that that was her undoing. Because her own feelings are mirrored in his face and she's reaching for him just as he's reaching for her, lips meeting hungrily, hands moving with singular purpose and intent, achingly and breath-takingly familiar. 

The air mattress isn't as good as a bed, but it's good enough. 

And when she drives away from Central City, she watches him in her rear view mirror until he vanishes from sight.


End file.
